Lion and Deity
by Morien Alexander
Summary: Discontinued Leon and D have quite a curious attraction between them... friends? Who is whose pet? Perhaps this time around will tell. Spoilers for vol. 10. LeonD
1. Lonely and Depressed

**Title:** Lion and Deity

**Author:** Morien Alexander

**Rating:** PG-13 just in case

**Pairings: **D/Leon or Leon/D, whoever comes first

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Petshop of Horrors, but I dearly love its inhabitants- so allow me to play with them for a while.

**Warnings: **Spoilers for the last book. BL/shounen ai/yaoi

**Notes:** D strikes me as unutterably beautiful. No wonder Leon would run after him.

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Chapter One: Lonely and Depressed

D hated being touched by humans. The feeling of their naked skin against his gave him shivers. Touching hands, touching cheeks... that horrible horrible invention called the hug. He always shied away from more connection than was necessary with humans. And then one day, he found himself grabbing Leon's hands. It was quite out of the blue, and it was merely a form of request, but it wasn't nauseating. Soon, he found that Leon's angry face close to his (instead of inciting a rebellion inside him) made him react with equal anger. He didn't even mind grabbing Leon to protect himself from the unwanted advances of a vampire. Touching Leon was somehow different than touching the rest of the human race. It was... almost relaxing.

Then again, D had noticed a change in Leon that few others had. When he had first come to the pet shop, he was clean and his hair had been combed quite well. He positively stank of humanity (and cigarettes). Remarkable, if one considered that by the time D found himself pushing Leon away with great reluctance, he bore the wild grace and animal attitude often associated with his name. Not that Leon had ever acquired the pure beauty of a wild cat, but he seemed to somehow have come in touch with his animal side.

Perhaps that is why he had taken the human with him.

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-u-

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Leon had actually managed to track D down over the course of seven years. The sloppy, crabby detective had shaken off his old life in the matter of months. He had quit his job, sold his apartment and nearly all his belongings (save his car), and then simply vanished. He told Chris that he was going to find D, but the boy kept the information to himself. The only clue that anyone on Earth had that he was still alive was that money kept disappearing out of his bank account.

He took to a nomadic lifestyle- trading grunt work for small change and sleeping in his car. He refused to call home until he had completed his goal, though with every passing week, it seemed farther and farther away. He would run after any reports of wild animal attacks in cities with Chinatowns... not to any avail until one day in the deep of spring seven years after he had begun his journey.

He sat on a curb in the sunshine of early afternoon in Washington DC's Chinatown. The sky overhead was mostly dark with clouds, but a few stray beams of light had pushed through and were lighting the pavement. A few drops of rain swung from the sky to fill the air with the scent of a coming storm. Ever since D had left, Leon had been acutely aware of the natural environment around him- the same way that his police instincts had been heightened around people, his animal instincts were now heightened to nature. And, somewhere in the back of his mind, he was always smelling things to find that peculiar heavy incense smell of D's shop.

A few businessmen passed by dressed in black (a very popular color in Washington), each toting a briefcase and an umbrella. Across the street, a homeless man covered in a slick blue poncho rattled a plastic cup full of change. Leon sighed. He was getting used to this. Too used to it. He hated it.

And then it came to him, drifting over the rain-scented breeze like it had been there all along. This heavy, cloying scent that he was so used to... but had almost forgotten... it could only be one thing.

D's pet shop.

Leon stood, sniffing the breeze like an animal. He had left his car in a parking garage and paid for the day, so he had to get there on feet. Of course, the scent seemed close... maybe a block or two away? But then again, with D, one could never tell. His hands clenched and unclenched as if he was trying to grab onto a specific location. He could feel his heart beating uncomfortably hard against his ribs. He felt... felt... predatory.

Moving towards the origin of the scent, he found himself going over and over the words that he had meant to say to D when he finally caught up with him again. I hate you. You left me. Let me come with you. What did you think I would do without you? Leon wanted to hit him, to tie him down, to hug him and never let go. But nothing seemed to fit.

And there he was, in front of the pet shop that was really a ship... seeing at last what he never could- that this place was wild and terrible... and oh so beautiful.

He took a breath, and stepped inside.

The slender form of the count was bent over as he picked up something purse sized and furry. He straightened, graceful as always, the wrinkles on his heavily embroidered blue cheongsam falling into order. One purple eye and one yellow arched in a smile that made Leon ache to see. "Welcome to-" D stopped short, breathless.

The heavy air grew heavier.

D's eyes widened in surprise and... fear? Leon couldn't tell. He was just as effeminate and demure as always, but somehow he looked as if someone had shattered his carefully placed mask. Leon felt goosebumps rising on his own arms. His throat tightened and he scowled to try to get rid of the feeling that he wanted to cry.

"The hell? You didn't know I was coming? I thought you were a god or something," he snarled, finally, his voice cracking slightly at the tail of his comment.

"I... I didn't know," D replied faintly. The purse-sized furry thing jumped out of his arms and wandered off to a more comfortable location. D, strangely enough, didn't let his arms drop to his sides or interlace his fingers, but pushed them together until it looked almost painful. "When did you..."

"Get here?" Leon finished. "To DC, two days ago."

"How-"

"Your retarded incense."

D turned away sharply. "You should not have come, Keiji-san." He sounded distant.

"YOU ASS!" Leon burst out angrily. "I've looked for you for seven years, and all you can tell me is that I shouldn't have come! Of course I would come! You know I'm always looking to land your pansy ass in jail... but I... I..." He swallowed hard. "I just missed you, you... you..."

D emitted a little choking sound.

"Damn you, I can't think of a good insult," growled Leon. Then his face softened until he almost looked like his sensitive little brother. "Don't cry."

D turned around, his hand over his mouth and a tear just visible under his yellow eye. He was laughing. "Keiji-san..."

"Leon. And don't laugh at me!"

"Leon. I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because... I'm... happy."

The blond man turned bright red and muttered something under his breath. Suddenly, he brightened a little and shoved his hands into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper so worn that it was almost as soft as cloth. He held it out in front of him and looked away from D. "I wanted you to have this."

Long nailed hands took the folded paper, but did not open it. "Thank you."

"Where's that damn goat? I half expected him to jump me when I came in..."

D didn't answer, but put his hand on Leon's arm. He had to look up at the other man, but his smile was so genuine that it almost didn't matter. "Ke- Leon... I thought you would stay with your family."

"Chris is fine."

"I meant all the people that care about you."

Leon shrugged shortly. "I wanted to come." He looked back at the short count and sighed. "Look, I can't get you out of my head. I tried forgetting about all this, but the more I tried not to think about you and your stupid pets... the more I thought. And maybe, I guess, since you don't have anyone to help you, that I'd get a job here. You'd pay better than the police."

"You came to look for a job?" D looked bemused.

"No... well... yes, but no, but... um..."

"You missed me."

Leon cleared his throat.

"I missed you, too. I'm glad you came."

The blond glared at his friend. "If you missed me, why the hell did you push me off your ship?"

D turned a little, his eyes darkening. "Like I said-"

"Yeah yeah, humans aren't allowed on your boat thingie." Leon rolled his eyes.

"They are not my rules." D moved away, circling his furniture until he came to a table which held a tea set and some small, round chocolate sweets. "I would have liked for you to come, but you are not one of my pets. I cannot keep a non-pet aboard. That is one reason my grandfather did not accompany me. Each ship is only allowed to hold one of us and our pets."

"Each? There's more than one?"

"There are four..." D put his hand on the teapot and looked down at it, not showing Leon his expression. "You know I will have to leave again."

The human nodded a little.

"I cannot take you with me."

"Make me one, then."

D looked up, startled. "What?"

"Make me one of your pets."

"Keiji-san..."

"It's Leon. And it's not... hell, I'm doing this willingly." Leon looked at D and smiled awkwardly. "I'll make you sign a contract, though."

D laughed outright.

"Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm not. I'm laughing because I'm happy."

"Does that mean yes, then?"

"It means... we shall see." D lifted the teapot and poured two cups of fragrant tea before he arranged the chocolates rather lopsidedly on plates. He liked sweets a lot more than the detective, and both of them knew it. He looked up with a smile that could have melted ice in the middle of the winter. "Until then, I will accept you as help around the shop." He lifted the tray. "Tea, Keiji-san?"

To be continued...


	2. Lost and Demanding

Notes: A little nothing chapter in which D yells and Tet sulks and Pon-chan is adorable. The "real" story will continue in the next chapter.

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Chapter 2: Lost and Demanding

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Tet-chan was seriously displeased.

He lounged on the couch, swinging his claws just above the thick carpet, and whined to Pon-chan in a voice that the little raccoon often used to get her own way. "I hate him!" he said, frowning. "The count's always all over him like... like... ugh, sauce on meat or something."

"Butter on bread," Pon-chan replied, dipping a strawberry in a cup of milk and shaking it a little. "It's not like he's staying with us forever." She glanced up at the man-eating beast who was sulking into a brocade pillow. "Besides, if it was you or him, I'd rather he stayed." And she giggled.

"Stupid rodent."

"Selfish goat."

Tet-chan sighed heavily.

D entered the room almost silently, but his brow was furrowed, and he was carrying the remains of a delicate china cup. He seemed not to notice the two pets sharing food and drink, but instead moved quietly over to the telephone.

Tet-chan stared after him with undisguised longing.

"You're jealous," Pon-chan said calmly, rinsing another strawberry in her milk. The other pet did not reply.

D dialed the number with the long nails on his right hand while holding the receiver to his ear with the left. He pursed his lips just a little, eyeing the broken cup. He didn't want to have to call his grandfather (he'd rather wait), but he did want to make sure that everything was okay with some of the pets they had exchanged. Plus, he had to tell someone about the whole fiasco with Leon. It would make him look underhanded if he just showed up one day toting the blond around behind him. Of all people, he didn't want his father to be able to accuse him of anything. Even though his father was now a seven year old human child who remembered nothing of his past life, D was not willing to relent towards him.

"Count D's Petshop, how may I help you?" came the smooth, comforting voice of D's grandfather over the phone.

"Grandfather?"

"Son of my heart," he sounded warm. "Where are you now?"

"Washington." D twisted the phone cord around his right index finger. "Grandfather, I need to tell you something."

Sofu D was silent.

"Leon... he found me."

A sigh.

"He wants to... he's working here."

"My child, you cannot keep him."

D could feel his body stiffen almost automatically. He felt like telling his grandfather that he wished to make his own choices, but instead, he just said, "We've been over that."

"You should erase his memory and send him on his way." Sofu D's voice was gentle, but firm. "Our duty is to punish the sins of human beings and to protect those animals who are losing the battle against them. You know that."

"He is going to stay with me for a while to work."

"My child..."

"Grandfather, I didn't call to ask for your permission." D's voice became clipped. "I called to tell you that Leon is here. He is going to work in my shop for a while, and he has asked to become one of my pets."

A sharp intake of breath.

"I do not know what will happen, but he has been searching for me for seven years- not to kill me or to take my power, not to protect humans or gain riches- he has _missed_ me, Grandfather. Seven years is a long time in the short life of a human, but he has given up his life, his job, his family, his time... and he has come to find me. I will not allow you to take away that which has come to me of its own will. You and Father said that I should no longer hope to save humanity. I don't. I have seen what humans can do. But I will save this one. This one will be mine. You deceived me, Grandfather, by pretending you were my familiar. Now, I will take what is given to me without lies from this man. He is not hiding under a cloak of cute familiarity. He is mine, Grandfather, mine!" D could hear his voice escalating as he talked, and was almost amazed to find his body shaking with suppressed anger.

Sofu D was silent for a moment, and then said, quietly, "As you wish. You may yet live to regret this."

"I will take responsibility for my own feelings."

"Do you want your father notified of this?"

"Is he my father, or my son?"

"Does it matter?"

D sighed. "No, it doesn't."

"You will give birth to a child of your own body soon. Perhaps you should still call him Father." Sofu D sounded almost amused, as if he was selling a dark pet to a human.

"How do you know what I will be doing with my own body!"

"It is almost the age at which all our kind are able to yield up another. Unless you wish to start again within a year, I expect you will have a child soon."

"And you will take it, because I am unfit."

"I didn't say that."

"And I didn't say that I would keep the human as a pet."

"So shall I tell your father of your... misdeeds?"

"You will do what you want anyway, so I say go ahead."

Sofu D laughed and hung up the phone, leaving D fuming to himself that once again he had been bested. He was not particularly hateful towards his grandfather, but he hated being beaten- particularly by his own kind.

"D?" Leon was standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. He looked absolutely ridiculous (darling, thought the count) in a large button-up shirt and a pair of boxers. "God... is everything okay?" He yawned, revealing white teeth and an unusually long tongue for a human. "I heard you yelling."

"It's nothing." D looked down at the cup fragments that were sitting on the table next to the telephone. At Leon's silence, he sighed and gave in a little. "I had to tell my grandfather that you were going to be here with me. I cannot keep this a secret."

"He didn't like it, then?" Leon wandered over to where Pon-chan was seated, ruffled her hair, and made himself comfortable next to her.

"I can make my own choices," D replied, sweeping the cup's remains into a wastebasket.

Tet-chan made a light growling noise.

"Hey, Tetsu," Leon offered, on seeing him.

The maneater returned his greeting with a toothy grin.

When D turned around, his china-doll smile was again on his lips, and his eyes were narrowed like a predator. "I will have my way," he said in a soft, dangerous voice. And then his eyes opened a little more. "I made some tea."

Pon-chan's eyes glittered.  
"Not for you, Pon-chan," he added quickly. "You know what it does to you."

Leon looked at her curiously. "What does it do to you?"

She made a face. "I can't sleep too well if I have a lot of it. Plus the way that the count makes it (with all the sugar) I get a little hyper."

Tetsu laughed. "A little? Last time you stayed awake for nearly a week and practically destroyed Honlon's room while Kanan was asleep. We were all in big trouble for that until the count found out it was you."

Pon-chan sniffed.

"Honlon?" Leon frowned a little, trying to place the name.

"She's our child," D said, amused.

"What!"

"The three headed dragon. I suppose you remember that." D handed Pon-chan a cup of ice water, and laid tea for the rest of them. "Kanan takes after you. Hot headed and quite proud of herself..."

"Oh the dragon thing!" Leon took a gulp of tea, which burned his tongue.

Tet-chan glared over the top of his cup at the former detective.

"You should meet with her one of these days," D said calmly. "Perhaps after we close the shop this evening." He raised one eyebrow and smirked. "And certainly after you change and get a shower, Keiji-san."

"You really should start calling me Leon."

"Of course."

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To be continued...

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	3. Latte and Doors

**Notes:** Sorry for the shortness of this. People were clambering for more, so I tried to do my best! uu;;; I will give up more writing later, I hope.

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**Chapter Three: Latte and Doors**

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The first customer to enter the shop was a lady in her mid thirties, holding a cup of something that steamed and smelled both awful (to D) and wonderful (to Leon). Tet-chan eyed her tasty legs, while Pon-chan ran in circles and something made a great deal of noise in the back of the shop. Leon had managed to find a dusty suit, and looked positively dashing as he strode across the carpet to greet the woman.

D, however, interrupted him before he had a chance to speak. "Welcome to Count D's Petshop. May I help you?"

The customer appeared not to hear him at first, and then started a little, smiling. "Oh, um... of course. I'm just... I ah.. am looking for an unusual pet."

Leon snorted.

D raised one eyebrow in irritation, but nodded politely. "You have come to the right place, then, Miss..."

"Mrs," the woman corrected him "Mrs. Carson."

"My apologies, Mrs. Carson," D said, smiling, his eyes curving into arches.

Leon looked a little put-out, but backed off, leaving D to do his evil pet thing. He didn't really mind that D was taking over, he just didn't like to be left out of things. While usually he would complain, at the moment he was a bit too dazzled by the intoxication of just being near D again. Though he wouldn't admit it... He moved towards one of the bird's cages and pretended to be interested in watching it preen.

D gave Mrs. Carson one of his "Petshop God" smiles and gestured to the door leading to the back of the shop. "Please follow me. I believe I have something that might interest you." He closed the door behind them casting a quick glance at Leon to make sure that the blond was behaving.

The door opened just as suddenly as it had shut, and a slim, dark-skinned young boy entered the front room with nothing but what looked like a towel around his waist. He yawned and revealed two white fangs. Leon looked away from the bird, and his brow rumpled upon seeing the boy before he realized that he must be one of the other pets. It was strange how sometimes they would appear to him as humans and sometimes as animals. He thought of some people who showered with their pets in the room and couldn't help but make a face.

"Am I bothering you?" the boy asked as he flopped lazily down on one of the couches. His hips rose like a girl's as he curled his legs inward.

"Nah," Leon said, frowning. "What are you?" he asked, suddenly, bluntly.

"Cat," the boy replied and grinned- again showing the fangs.

"Oh."

The boy drummed his long nails against the couch's wooden arms. His slitted eyes held Leon's in an almost predatory glare. "You're that human that used to be here."

"Leon." Hardly a polite introduction, but the blond didn't feel that the boy- er cat- was being friendly either.

"He calls me Femto-kun."

Leon didn't ask who "he" was. He made a noise and went back to watching the bird which had started sharpening her beak on a cuttlebone. D had claimed she was very rare and wonderful, but hadn't said why. Looking at her, Leon thought her green and yellow patterned feathers were very pretty, but she seemed to be an ordinary parakeet to him. He whistled a little, to attract her attention.

"She won't answer." Femto said from across the room, smirking. "You're making her nervous."

"More like you're making her nervous... you're the cat!" Leon snapped. He didn't like the boy at all. He was too pretty, too slinky. Besides, he was a cat. Leon liked dogs better.

The back door opened again, and Mrs. Carson emerged, carrying what looked to Leon like a chubby little boy with round, black, furry ears. He had his thumb in his little rosy mout, and was leaning against the woman as if she was his mother. Mrs. Carson looked positively enraptured.

"Now remember, you must feed him fresh bamboo every day, don't let anyone else see him except you and your husband, and above all, do not allow him to smell meat." D held the contract in his hands. "As I said before, this pet shop is not liable for any damages if the contract is broken."

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Carson said impatiently, then patted the little boy's back and sighed happily. "Thank you so much!"

"You are very welcome," D replied, his dangerously beautiful smile remaining in place. "Please take good care of him and come again."

As Mrs. Carson exited, Femto-kun stood up and stretched his brown limbs. "Count... would you please tell this _human_" he said the word scornfully "that he is making Leigha-chan nervous?"

D smiled and settled on the couch. "Aren't you the cat?" Femto-kun grinned and returned to stretching himself across the couch- though this time, his pillows included the Count's thighs. D didn't seem to mind, and scratched the boy's back lightly with his nails, eliciting a quite definite purr.

Leon looked away. "So what'm I supposed to do around here?" he asked, a little more bitingly than he had intended. "I can't just stand here and look pretty all day. I gotta work for my keep."  
"Indeed," D agreed in a calm voice that grated on Leon's nerves.

"Gimme something to do for Chrissakes!"

"Language, my dear Keiji-san."

The pet name seemed to mollify Leon for a moment, but he continued, "I can work the register or something."

"You could also wrap parcels for some of the patrons," D said agreeably.

"Parcels?"

"Packages."

"I know what parcels are," Leon snapped. "I meant why are you wrapping up pets?"

D laughed outright at that. "Not pets, pet food!" His eyes sparkled with mirth. "Ah, my Keiji-san... I sell some pet foods here as well as pets themselves."

"And some pretty freaky flowers."

"Yes, of course."

Femto-kun gave a disgruntled meow, and Leon was only vaguely surprised to see a cat in D's arms rather than a boy. It was less disconcerting to him. It had seemed almost... romantic the way that they had been touching before. And now, it seemed just right.

D stroked the cat's ears, his eyes still on Leon. "He dislikes you. He says you are too abrasive and are not a suitable guest here."

Leon snorted. "He's one to talk."

D's eyes nearly closed, but his smile lingered. "Two tomcats fighting for dominance, hm?"

"What?"

"Nothing at all, my dear Keiji-san."

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**To be continued...**


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